Chapter 1169: Ten Thousand Years Ago Glory

In the cold, starry sky, a vast expanse of darkness, boundless, majestic, and spectacular, carrying an immense sense of oppression, approached from a distance, making even the saints turn pale.

The universe is incredibly vast, its immensity without end. Even if humanity could traverse it, a lifetime would only allow for activity within a limited region.

Facing this unknown, dark cosmos, one feels insignificant and tiny. Encounters in star regions are rare; desolation is the eternal theme.

However, this normalcy was shattered today. What they witnessed was incredibly shocking; upon regaining their composure, a chill ran down their spines.

Their own fleet of motherships was immense and grand, but compared to the vast jungle of steel on the other side, it seemed small and insignificant.

It was an enormous fleet. Each vessel was magnificent, with the smallest measuring thousands of feet, and the largest tens of thousands of feet. They stretched across the cosmos, densely packed and overwhelming!

Drifting through the universe for an unknown number of years, they bore the indelible marks of time. Yet, they remained eternally immortal, enduring since ancient times.

"It's really... them!" Even the voice of an ancient saint trembled.

This cold fleet was even more spectacular and imposing than their own mothership fleet, stretching beyond sight. This was truly an unrivaled overlord capable of sweeping across the universe!

Although most of the warships had dimmed, their luster no longer brilliant, their majesty and imposing presence remained. Particularly, the immortal traces of the Great Dao had not faded; they still flowed, emitting a supreme divine might capable of suppressing the Nine Heavens and Ten Earths.

This was an eternal glory, the culmination of a civilization from a pinnacle era. It had once swept across all corners of the universe, dominating every accessible part of the cosmos. Wherever its battle flag pointed, all yielded.

Yet, at this moment, they no longer showed any signs of life, appearing utterly lifeless. At a glance, they resembled an ancient graveyard.

This was a desolation, and even more so, a profound sorrow. All their glory, all their past, had been interred in the dust of history, drifting alone through the cosmos.

This was a boundless and terrifying fleet of ghost ships. For countless ages, they had instilled fear, causing people to turn pale at their mention. Facing them was like confronting Death itself, or battling demons unleashed from hell's chains.

One hundred thousand years ago, they shone with immense brilliance, ushering in an unprecedented prosperous era. It was a magnificent age of ascendancy, illuminated by invincible divine radiance!

However, with their demise, and their reappearance after a period of time, they became synonymous with death and terror, striking fear throughout the cosmic seas.

No one knew what had happened. The once invincible fleet, after an expedition deep into the cosmic seas, had embarked on a path of no return. When they reappeared, they had become ghost ships.

It was a nightmare. The invincible brilliance had transformed into shadows of death. The first mothership fleet that stumbled upon them and dared to investigate ended up becoming followers of Death, becoming part of them.

This alarmed the ancient saints of the Eternal Main Star. As a result, eleven saints went forth, but none ever returned!

After a long period of time, when people encountered them again, they discovered that the warships of the eleven saints had also become part of the fleet.

By then, twenty thousand years had passed. Later generations believed the danger period was over. Even if terrifying beings had once occupied the fleet, they should have long departed by now, allowing the mystery to be unveiled.

However, the nightmare continued. The dreadful past replayed itself. Four ancient saints boarded this fleet, silently vanishing with it into the depths of the dark cosmos, never to return.

Fifty thousand years later, it reappeared, with no discernible beginning or end, drifting aimlessly, traversing the void of the universe without purpose.

At that time, upon learning of its return, the various overlords of the Eternal Main Star sent ten sages together. They intercepted the fleet in the cold cosmos, venturing deep within it.

Yet, the nightmare persisted; it was far from over!

All ten sages vanished, just like their predecessors, never to return.

That time, the people of the Eternal Main Star were desperate. They deployed a large number of devastating weapons, no longer wishing to uncover the bizarre and terrifying truth, and launched an attack capable of destroying a star region.

It was a chilling spectacle. Beams of light powerful enough to annihilate planets, suns, and many other celestial bodies, had no effect whatsoever.

This ghost fleet, without beginning or end, drifted tirelessly. All divine artifacts of the Great Dao and sacred technological weapons were useless against them. Instead, a strange ripple spread out, reducing the attacking motherships to dust, transforming them into cosmic debris, with no one escaping.

The terrifying past left the people of the Eternal Main Star deeply fearful. For one hundred thousand years, as they delved into the cosmos for exploration and resource extraction, they encountered the fleet fourteen times. It appeared in different star regions, separated by an unimaginable number of galaxies. It was hard to fathom how they traversed such distances.

The last encounter was forty thousand years ago. It was seen in a distant, unimaginably remote edge galaxy. After that, they never reappeared. It was assumed they had vanished into the desolate cosmic frontier.

Who would have thought that the ancient ghost fleet would reappear!

As before, their eerie silence remained unchanged through the ages. For one hundred thousand years, nothing about them had altered. They were utterly lifeless, and all living beings retreated from them.

"Move away, clear a path for it!" Panic spread. Even the saints looked distressed. This dreadful ghost fleet had silently devoured their ancestors.

No one could stop them. To this day, they had not forgotten the tragedy of years past. Unless ancient gods were resurrected, approaching meant certain, pointless death.

This was a cold jungle of steel, and even more so, a tomb of death, capable of burying ancient saints and devouring all powerful beings.

"One hundred thousand years ago, it was once the pinnacle of glory. What did the expeditionary forces encounter that caused them to become like this?"

This was everyone's question, but it had remained unanswered from ancient times until now.

Furthermore, where they were going or what they intended to conquer in those days remained unverifiable, as no clues were left behind at the time. This invincible fleet had embarked secretly.

"Could it be... that after one hundred thousand years, we still cannot uncover the truth? So much time has passed; perhaps there's nothing left there now."

The younger generation was too far removed from that era. Some hot-blooded youths couldn't suppress their curiosity, wishing to become the heroic explorers who would tear through the mists.

"Anyone who dares to act recklessly will be killed on the spot!"

The ancient saint personally gave the order. The more powerful one was, the heavier their heart felt. Were there not enough ancient sages who perished back then, including some of the most exceptional individuals?

The ten sages from fifty thousand years ago boarded with the belief that the past was long gone and time had erased everything. Yet, didn't they all perish completely!

"Just how powerful was this fleet back then? In terms of scale, it's truly vast, magnificent to the extreme. Did it comprise the entire military might of the Eternal Main Star from that era?" Some nobles couldn't help but tremble as they voiced this question.

This fleet was truly spectacular, covering all directions like dark clouds, its oppressive weight suffocating. Among them were four colossal ships, each twenty thousand feet long, far grander than current motherships, clustered at the center by the dense fleet.

If this ancient ghost fleet was a giant, then their own expeditionary fleet was merely a dwarf. They simply could not be compared.

"Back then, our Eternal Main Star was truly glorious. Perhaps the cosmic law of prosperity inevitably leading to decline holds true; even the heavens couldn't bear to watch."

An ancient saint, gazing at the four massive vessels, turned pale and recounted some ancient events, causing everyone to gasp in cold air.

In that era, the Eternal Realm indeed reached a period of extreme prosperity. For a single ancient life star to produce three Great Sages in an era was already magnificent, but one hundred thousand years ago, the people of that star region achieved a breakthrough, defying normalcy.

It was uncertain whether there were exactly seven Great Sages, or perhaps a few more, but in any case, they shook the past and illuminated the present, reaching an astonishing level.

People said that, barring any unforeseen circumstances, a divine being might have been born in that era! Ultimately... it did not come to pass.

That expedition was led by four Great Sages. At the center of the vast, sky-obscuring ghost fleet before them, those four magnificent motherships, each twenty thousand feet long, were the exclusive holy vessels of the Great Sages.

"What? Four Great Sage-class motherships? Four Great Sages commanded the fleet on that expedition back then? What supreme and terrifying combat power! And they mysteriously vanished, ultimately becoming ghost ships?"

Many were shaken, expressing shock at this outcome. The ancient saints felt a bitter pang, as some of their direct ancestors were among those who had perished, their demise unexplained.

The colossal ghost fleet, imbued with an aura of death, swept past them, covering the sky. No one dared to approach; they could only gaze from afar at the glorious relics of their ancestors.

Suddenly, someone exclaimed, "Huh, wait, what is that? Between the four Great Sage ancient ships, something is bound by massive iron chains!"

None of their motherships could scan that area. Strange fluctuations emanated from it, blocking all attempts at investigation.

A marquis stood outside a mothership, daring to gaze afar. Using his Heavenly Eye ability, he observed an inexplicable sight.

However, the distance was too great. In the hazy, dark cosmos, any celestial distance to humans was unfathomable and boundless.

"Move closer!"

An ancestral saint also noticed the situation and ordered a mothership to fly forward, not daring to approach too closely, only observing from a distance.

"That is..." Many powerful individuals rushed out of their spacecraft, gazing from afar in the void. As their eyes opened and closed, beams of light pierced forward.

Ye Fan also left his warship, standing on its hull to observe the distance. His Source Heavenly Eye was exceptionally keen; he immediately saw what was within, and was instantly shocked.

"It's a colossal ancient coffin!" An ancient saint gasped.

The distance closed significantly. People gazed with a mix of fear and astonishment, finally clearly seeing the extraordinary sight.

Four Great Sage ancient ships, each occupying a position, were actually locking a colossal coffin as it drifted through the universe.

The ancient coffin's construction material was unknown; it seemed neither gold nor stone, neither wood nor anything else. Its composition was unclear, yet it was ancient and weathered, having endured unimaginably long eons in the river of time.

Four thick chains were bound to it, imprisoning it in the center of the four Great Sage motherships. It appeared incredibly unnatural and ominous!

Although the coffin was massive, it seemed small compared to the four Great Sage ancient ships. Yet, as everyone looked ahead, they instantly overlooked the four Great Sage ships; only the coffin filled their vision.

In the cold universe, it was the sole focus, exuding a terrifying aura that proved it was the eternal and unchanging protagonist of heaven and earth!

An ancient saint said with a trembling voice, "For one hundred thousand years, our Eternal Star Region has encountered the ghost ships of death fourteen times. But each time, all we could see between the four Great Sage ships was an expanse of darkness, like the boundless, mysterious void, impenetrable to sight. To think that now we can see through it, or rather, it has revealed its true form!"

Another ancient saint spoke with a solemn expression, saying, "So, our ancestors' expedition back then, involving four Great Sages, was all for this?"

"Was this colossal ancient coffin what they unearthed, or perhaps their spoils of war?" The ancient saints muttered to themselves.

Ye Fan looked at the mysterious ancient celestial coffin, and a monstrous wave surged in his heart!

"Since the darkness has vanished and everything there is visible, perhaps we can go and investigate. I'll risk it; I'll go take a look, and unveil this terrifying ancient mystery!" a marquis declared.